In October 2012 Desert Pea Media came to stay in Alpurrurulam for four weeks creating and recording songs and film clips for a DVD / CD compilation that we will be realeasing as apart of the Binge Drinking Program. It's titled "Binge Thinking not drinking" and features 9 film clips and 12 songs that have created over the duration of the program, some which have been showcased here. This clip is "Children of the Sun" and is a beautiful piece showcasing some of the beautiful country around Alpurrulam and its people.
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With the temperature outside soaring past 40 degrees, the youth worker is packing up four of the new laptops donated by Dot Com Mob into a secure travel case. The laptops are off to Alpurrurulam also know as Lake Nash. Lake Nash is one of the most isolated locations in Australia and the laptops will be used to engage the young people in the community in various learning and creative activities. The computers have been networked with each other (independent of the internet) to play Minecraft - which is a type of digital Lego game, but more varied and interesting. In addition, as the laptops are Macs they have creative programs such as Garage Band and iMovie already loaded. The Dot Com Mob, also donated some multi-media keyboards so that the children can enjoy recording their own music. The computers are sent with workers so there is adequate supervision for their use. Thanks to generous donations through our fundraising partners, The Sebel Pier One Hotel and B1G1, the Dot Com Mob was able to purchase and donate 8 brand new Apple Mac Pro laptops to three remote Indigenous communities in NT. The Apple laptops come were shipped with multi-media keyboards which will enable to young people in the communities to play and record their own music. The exciting and interesting content and challenges that are possible with computer technology continues to engage many community members. We are looking for donation of second-hand laptops as part of this program. If you have some machines you would like to donate, please contact us for further information. http://youtu.be/folHpHeXwOc
A multi-media project created by the children of Wujal Wujal, that featured local language, Kuku Yalanji, was screened publicly last week for the first time. Few would consider rap music an effective tool for practicing traditional Aboriginal language and bringing communities together but that is exactly what it has done in the Wujal Wujal last week. With the support of the charities Dot Com Mob and the ING Foundation, school kids aged 8-12 from Bloomfield River State School, have written, performed and recorded a rap song and accompanying video clip in the local language, Kuku Yalanji. The project’s multi‐media trainer, Wade MacKinnon and the children’s teacher, Jacqui Levy, helped the young kids identify the aspects of their local community that they were the most proud of and developed a rap song that described their life in Wujal Wujal community. This song was then translated into the local language. Norman Tayley, the local language specialist who assisted the kids with the translations, highlights how important the project was for their community, “We have to show our kids how important language is to keep our culture alive, because if the kids aren’t speaking the language then their children won’t be speaking it and it will be lost forever.” The accompanying video clip created by the children and the technical support crew, featured local sacred sites from the Bloomfield area including the Weary Bay beach and the Wujal Wujal Falls. The children also learnt how to make clay figurines of themselves and local wildlife particular to the area, that were animated into the film. Kathleen Walker, Traditional Owner of the Wujal Wujal area, who accompanied the children on the filming trips to the sacred sites, describes her joy at seeing the children perform their rap song, “Hearing kids singing and dancing in language makes me so happy, I was so proud.” The finished rap song and video clip was screened for the entire Wujal Wujal community last Thursday night. Local residents of all ages enjoyed seeing the special parts of their community highlighted in the video and the creativity and expressiveness of the children. Dot Com Mob has been financially supporting the computer room at Papunya that was established by CAYLUS in March 2009. We are providing funds for Internet access, to employ a local Indigenous staff member and an onsite manager. Our CEO, Mieka White, is volunteering at the computer room for a month to see how the computers are being used and to determine the social impact of the project on the wider community. She will be updating this blog with news from Papunya. Click here for more details about the project. Wujal Wujal is located approximately 30km north of Cape Tribulation and 60km south of Cooktown. Access to the community is via an unsurfaced track road which is only suitable for four wheel drive vehicles due to the gradient of the terrain and the many streams and rivers that make up the Daintree Drainage Basin. During the wet season the road is unpassable. Because of the town’s isolation, the kids are often bored and engaging in anti-social behaviour. A multi-media training program has been implemented using the funds raised by Sebel Pier One and Harbour Rocks Hotels. The aim is to engage the young people of the Wujal Wujal Community to partake in healthy activities that build self-esteem and a sense of belonging and connectedness to their culture. The program not only provides arts activities for children and young people, but it is also linked to professional development and employment opportunities of local Indigenous artists. The participants have been capturing their community’s local stories and developing scripts. Some of the participants have started developing music for the film’s soundtrack. Weather permitting, participants have been filming aspects of community life using a variety of different techniques and equipment types. A short film has been compiled of the footage that was captured in the first few weeks of the training program. The quality of the footage is low but it was an opportunity for the kids to see what they have shot and learn how they may improve on their filming techniques. It will also be used for the school kids, to inspire their imaginations to come up with some more ideas for using the cameras as well as take them onto the next steps of learning how to edit. The Indigenous Youth Mobility Program (IYMP) helps young Indigenous people move away from home to gain the skills they need to get a job in their community or elsewhere. Indigenous people aged 16 to 24 from remote areas can relocate to Canberra to undertake post secondary education and training options. Training options include Australian Apprenticeships, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education that leads to qualifications in nursing, teaching, business administration and accounting, to name but a few possibilities. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) provides subsidised, supervised and supported accommodation in the ACT along with mentoring, career planning and numerous other support mechanisms so that young Indigenous people can achieve their goals.
Further information can also be found on the DEEWR website: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Indigenous/Schooling/Programs/YouthMobilityProgram/Pages/ProgramSummary.aspx Many of you are probably familiar with the paper dailies but we thought that it might be a good way to display what is happening in Indigenous affairs every day. Please let us know if there are any other Indigenous writers that you enjoy following.
The Australian Yoga Aid Challenge on Sunday 14th November has the dual focus of bringing the yoga community together and raising funds for charity. Thousands of Yogis are expected to attend free, special two hour yoga practices across Australia to raise money for their selected charity. Whilst attendance is free, participants fundraise for charity in the lead up to the event. Therefore, by registering for an event in your local area, you are helping to create strong communities based on giving. Practicing with some of the world’s most influential yogis is an added bonus! By choosing Dot Com Mob as the selected charity, participants and Yoga Aid will help change the lives of Indigenous children living in remote communities. The Dot Com Mob is a not-for-profit organisation working on closing the literacy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people by upgrading or establishing community-owned technology centres. These centres can then provide online training and IT support in the most remote communities, which in turn promotes dramatic improvements in educational engagement and literacy levels. Money raised for Dot Com Mob, through this year’s Yoga Aid event, will directly support Papunya, an Indigenous community of 300 people located in Central Australia. The Papunya centre currently provides local people of all ages with access to ten donated computers, a printer/scanner and a laminator. These resources are supplemented by limited free access to the Internet. The funds raised will pay for a dedicated on-site employee – to keep the centre open for 30hrs a week, and offers direction and assistance to those unfamiliar with IT applications and equipment. It is also an aim that the technology centre established within this community will provide access to virtual yoga classes for the children, thus teaching them the many benefits of yoga in promoting economic empowerment, wellness and community development. To support Dot Com Mob through Yoga Aid, ‘challengers’ just have to register on the Yoga Aid website prior to the 14th November event here http://www.yogaaid.com/australia/registernow and then select Dot Com Mob as your preferred charity. Or if you are unable to be a challenger but would like to sponsor me please click on http://www.yogaaid.com/gayewhite to visit my fundraising page and donations will be made to the Dot Com Mob. |